


Cursed Hands: A Pokemon Moon Nuzlocke

by sleepylavender



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Major Original Character(s), Nuzlocke Challenge, Pokemon Journey, Some death, and lots of malasada, hopefully a decent story, with hopefully decent characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 22:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11000220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepylavender/pseuds/sleepylavender
Summary: Masako goes to Alola on a mission to uncover the truth of the seemingly peaceful nation, but it may just cost her more than she'd ever imagine. She gains friends along the way but despite all her talents, will she be able to keep them from knowing her true self, or keep them at all?





	1. Black Bird (the Beatles)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for a while and it finally feels somewhat decent, lol. 
> 
> So, this is the novelization of my Nuzlocke challenge of Moon, and I'll be taking some artistic liberties, but it's not going to deviate too much from the plot. 
> 
> A Nuzlocke is basically Pokemon on hard mode. The rule I will be using:
> 
> 1\. Fainted pokemon are considered dead and will be permanently boxed.
> 
> 2\. I may only catch the first pokemon encountered in each area. (I'll be considering each registered area with a differing name a new area, and catch 1 pokemon from each trial ground after beating the trial.)
> 
> (*the specie/dupes clause will be intact, as in previously caught species may be ignored.)
> 
> (*I will be catching only pokemon with unique Alolan forms, such as Alolan pikachu and pikipek. Pokemon like slowpoke or oddish without any unique forms will be considered null.)
> 
> 3\. All pokemon must be named.
> 
> 4\. I will be boxing my starter after catching its replacement (in the wild) the first moment I reach a pokecenter. However, static encounters (ingame pokemon) will be counted valid.
> 
> If you'd be so kind to read and review, it'd definitely make my day! Any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated as well.

“What do you mean you don’t know, Gorou?” She kept her words soft and level and her posture relaxed, with a breezy lilt to her voice. Her acting was perfect.

However, this wouldn’t fool her keen teacher- he knew her far too well, perhaps better than any sort of parent was ever capable to know their child. He was her teacher, her father, her family, her partner, and her friend. “Masa…”

 His voice was heavy with emotion, and yet incredibly, absolutely tired.

 There wasn’t an official name for their line of work, although their clientele tended to affectionately refer to them as Jacks. It was the shorthand name for a jack of all trades, an anything for hire, a handyman who would do anything from theft or assassination or seduction to body clean up or drug/weaponry/pokemon delivery. As long as it had a price, it was a job.

 She was Gorou’s one and only student and he had once been at the top of his field, implied to be involved with a dozen national incidences- she suspected more, too. It still seemed strange to her that he picked someone so insignificant as her up, so long ago, when he had no reason to.

 She was only more mystified as he had gifted his one and only student with an I O U.

 “You shouldn’t look down on the possibility of a first starter, Masa.” He said steadily, no longer portraying any personal emotion. If she hadn’t seen him moments ago, she wouldn’t have had any idea of just how exhausted he truly was.

 He had something troubling him but she wasn’t able to discern his thoughts from a glance like he was. His internal turmoil weighed on his eyebrows, making them droop just the slightest bit and his eyes didn’t quite look at her- they rested on one of her facial features, her hands but never quite connecting with her eyes. He felt conflicted and guilty about something concerning herself or else he would’ve discussed some of it with her but whatever it was, she hadn’t the slightest clue.

 He had been like that since he had returned from a solo mission that morning. He almost never took solo missions and when he did, it took months and he always returned nearly unraveled, cold, and quiet. It was a shocking world of difference from his lazy, grumpy usual self.

 However, this time he’d come home and told her she had graduated, and that he was giving Masa her final mission and a pokemon- that all was something new.

 “You had a murkrow for a partner. That’s pretty fitting for the job description, you know.” She was cheery and light. Not a scratch nor crack in her facade. Not one. “What if we need to split and its slow? What if we’re being chased, what if we’re against some dark type, and its psychic? If it's similar to murkrow, that’d be great for sneaking around and knocking people out. But if it’s hardy that’ll make tailing and-”

 His hand covered her mouth and the toxic stench of alcohol offended her nose. “Look, dummy. I don’t know what it’ll be, but the fun part is learning how to deal with all that. Most of all, you need to learn to be _patient._ ”

 They both knew he wasn't only referring to the pokemon.

 “I can be patient.” Masa murmured, pulling his hand from her face with certainty and strength. “You know I can. Skilled stakeouts-”

 He shook his head, messy long hair gently swaying. Upon closer inspection she discovered it was greasy- he needed a shower. “Not that kind of patience, Masa.”

 “Fine.” She sighed, no longer acting. There was no use for it- she had lost the argument and with it her energy as well. She was helpless in the situation and told to wait- so she'd wait for him to cough it up.

 Masa stewed in her room until sleep finally managed to calm her.

 

* * *

 

 

The next few days were filled with unspoken tension as Masa nagged and bothered Gorou into being human. Bathing, eating, haircuts, doctor visits. She cleaned the house with a near obsessed manner in the time inbetween- she hadn’t been sure when Gorou was coming home so things had been a bit messy when he returned.

 He had been drinking a considerable bit and she was worried- if they had a job, why was he drinking? He was strictly professional when they had jobs, no matter how small, right until they were completed. Then he became the world’s largest slob, but that was neither here nor there.

 The other worrisome issue was that he hadn’t given her the mission right when they got it.

 Did that mean that it was a job at a future time? That generally meant it was a pretty sizable job, but then why bother worrying about it so far ahead then?

 Whatever was happening, it was bad news. Her nerves were constantly on edge like how pokemon were when something alerted their sixth sense- it was escalating to where she couldn’t sleep.

 Masa got up and went outside, suffocating in the house. Their home.

 Not her home for much longer though, apparently.

 The night sky took her attention for an immeasurable amount of time until Gorou plopped down next to her. “What’s wrong, Masako?”

 He used her full name, and finally met her in the eyes- he had come to a decision.

 “Nothing’s wrong, Gorou.” She left the edge in her voice, sending him a dirty look. He always promised to share everything with her but when it came to issues concerning herself, he was always secretive and too careful with it. “What’re you hiding, anyway?”

 He attempted to rake a hand through his hair but only ended up fighting with a jungle of tangles. “Ma, you aren’t asking the right question.” He gave up the battle and slumped against her, suddenly looking breakable, startlingly permeable. “I know you’re too clever to be oblivious- but unfortunately I can’t wait much longer for you to ask it.” He looked smaller than she remembered.

 Words failed her and it dawned on Masa that the matter at hand was just serious as she initially thought, if not much more. “Why are you giving me a pokemon, then?” She barely managed to get the quiet sentence past her thick, unwilling tongue. “And more importantly… why do you not know what it is?”

 He nodded with an approving look, and despite his state being beyond being vulnerable, he managed to give her a strong, warm smile. “Very good, Ma. Very good.” He produced a thick manila folder and handed it to her. “I’ll be going away soon. For a long time.”

 He fully believed in the value of experience, so he took her on almost any mission they’d ever received- for better or for worse. “You won’t be coming with me this time. I have another mission for you. My final mission for you.”

 She processed the information slowly, word by word. Backwards, forwards, upside down, dissecting the foreign idea. “Still… I’m just your student. I’ve only been with you for 8 years- what is this supposed to-”

 “Hush.” He grumbled, frowning. “I’m going to tell you.”

 She glared at him for a while, effectively shut up.

 “It’s come to my attention in the past couple months that you’re skilled enough to be on your own. While I’ve certainly enjoyed my time with you, I can’t be with you forever- I’ll only be hindering your growth if I stay with you.”

 Masa wished she knew other jacks like them- to have some sort of reference to compare their relationship to, but Gorou seemed to avoid them like the plague. Gorou stayed with his teacher for 10 years, but he had also been recruited younger. She wanted to say it wasn’t enough, but without anything concrete to back up her argument with, it’d be nothing more than complaining.

 He mussed with her hair a bit, giving her a sad, hard line of a smile. He knew her thoughts probably, and probably shared the sentiment a bit- at least, that was what Masa hoped. Gorou sighed and slapped his face a bit as if to scare off his slight drunken lethargy. “You’ll be going to Alola. An old friend requested that I find him someone to sniff out some of the hidden activity going on in the region, and I thought that no one would be better than my own pupil.”

 “Isn’t Alola supposed to be ridiculously safe?”

 He shook his head. “That’s only Alola at face value. From what I’ve heard from him, inside the region is getting chaotic. Due to his position however, he can’t do anything directly and he can’t even look for concrete evidence directly- that’s of course, going to be part of your job. Your mission details are in there, but…”

 A beat of silence passed. “But what, Gorou?”

 The guilt breaking his features wasn’t a good thing- she definitely wasn’t going to like whatever he was about to say. It was also definitely this that had been really on his mind.

 “You have to…” He started, slowly fumbling with each syllable. “... go find your mother.”

 She had prepared herself for it- and yet she was still shocked numb at the words. It took her a while to remember to speak. “Is that all?” Masa chuckled with an empty, unfeeling bravado.

 They sat in the quiet night for a while before his concerned gaze sent her trudging back into her room, unable to bear it any longer.

 

 On her bed she kept a worn slowpoke doll, and a newer but still used pikachu doll. They both had blank, bored, unrelenting stares that bore into her. As if pressing her to move, to think, to do. Judging her for being useless, and wanting to stay with Gorou. Wanting to stay his student, for hesitating to find her mother.

  _Arceus…_ She cursed to herself, flopping on her bed. _Mom…_

 Masa knew why she needed to find her mother without bothering with the manila folder. It was a solid plan Gorou had given her too, despite however much she hated it.

 Alola was notorious for being safe- but also for being extremely difficult to get into. Someone couldn’t get into there without a verified, pristine ID. The security was so tight that not even needles or hairpins would be overlooked on a person’s body and she had yet to hear of a fake ID or unclean criminal record to have been granted travel.

 Many of the Kantonese were traveling to Alola, as if the nation was trying to forget the crippling economic issues a decade previous, and the cold Kanjoh war that nearly happened. The shadow was slowly lifting its weight from the region, but the conjunction of the Kanto and Johto Leagues was still a heavy reminder.

 Her mother was a spotless, happy-go-lucky Kantonese, and would no doubt be granted travel and citizenship in the Alola region.

Reluctantly, Masa grabbed the folder and began to flip through it, curious just what important mission would be cruelly clawing apart her life.


	2. Mama I'm Coming Home (Ozzy Osbourne)

Masa met her mother with surprising ease.

She claimed to have lost her memory in an accident and oh-so conveniently, an elderly couple took her in- the police ate it up. It was a mere matter of a few fabricated records- a couple hospital records and bills, a few requests for aid from government agencies to investigate the matter without results. It wasn’t strange to have slightly scrambled files with all of the Rocket corporation's interference in the system. Masa was someone ‘lost in the cracks’ at that time period, and reconnected with her tearful mother very quickly. Her ‘Pop’ and “Moma’ (elderly friends of Gorou who were more than happy with their compensation) were tearful, but happy to see her home.

 It honestly felt like any other job to her- her mother was a familiar stranger, but only just that.

 "Moonie!”

 Masa refrained from blanching, firmly keeping her composure. On the outside at least.

 Her mother may have been a stranger, but the name was something not. “Yeah, Ma?”

 Her mother was constantly smiles, a beam of searing sunlight without fail. Not even when the police mentioned that Masa may have been kidnapped, or sold into human trafficking did her mother’s blinding smile falter.

 There was a reason Masa left home, and she was only strongly reminded why the longer she was there.

 “Sooo? Do you like it?”

 Masa inspected the clothes that she had put on without question or thought. They were exceedingly cute- like she had been going for a cloying saccharine. A flowery, flowing pale yellow top that tied at her waist, and little green shorts, accented by the world’s strangest red hat- it was like her mother was dressing a toddler for a nature walk, not helping her grown daughter find a traveling outfit.

 Masa supposed she didn’t need to be on the best of terms with her mother- it wasn’t likely the woman would just dump her if she spoke her mind. However, the jack swallowed her disgust and managed a smile to match her mother’s.

 “Like it? I think I love it.”

 They continued shopping and not much later boarded the plane to check out possible houses in Alola.

 The plane ride was a silent conversation between the jack and the familiar stranger, the latter who was snoring peacefully. Long thick hair the color of coffee and skin naturally tinted and sunkissed with time, graceful laugh lines- they couldn’t really look less alike. The only exception were the family eyes- a brown so dark it was basically a charred black, an ugly and unattractive pair of black holes.

 Where was her grandfather, and her repulsive uncle? Her mother now had her own money but why was her mother working- when did her mother start working? Did her mother want to move to Alola to truly begin anew, or was it to wash away guilt? Did Gorou’s friend in Alola hold that much sway- did they make such an attractive offer to her mother? Why would a mother with her daughter just returned let her daughter become a trainer?

 It wasn’t as if becoming a trainer was an easy life- those without results were considered drifting ne’er-do-wells and plenty ended up dead. Washed up without money, time or happiness to spare. Worse- there were certainly worse fates than those.

 Masa felt she knew the answer, and it seemed her mother changed less than she originally thought. Hollowness resounded in her, knowing they were both virtually the same in the moment as they were when she left home- eight years of hard, dangerous work and study seemed to amount to nothing as her mother swallowed her up again in her burning smile- once more becoming a little thing that could do nothing but say yes and nod.

 The clouds were a useless distraction as her black thoughts seemed to nibble on her, and the only thing keeping them at bay were questions of the future.

 Gorou wouldn’t give her a mission she wasn’t capable of- if her mother was the hard part, the rest would be easy, right?

 … Right?

 

* * *

 

 

Masa clung to her identity and memories more and more as the first days wore on- they spent their time idly cleaning her mother’s house and packing, and she had never felt like she acted more on a mission than with her mother.

 It was more suffocating than any other infiltration mission she’d ever done- usually it was exhausting work, but she never forgot herself under the facade. It wasn’t generally an easy thing to do after all.

 Normally it was a matter of fitting into the puzzle pieces of those around her, learning and matching things from prior intelligence gathering to be of interest and in the trust of her target. Her work was little in that respect- her mother had no reason to really be disinterested in her, or have suspicion of her daughter.

 But the capable, cautious person she had become with Gorou was in danger of being devoured alive.

 By all appearances, they were a happy mother and daughter making up for lost time. However, not once did her mother inquire about what was in the time lost- not once. Did her mother truly feel so afraid to ask? It was nearly as if no time passed at all.

 Masa found it incredibly hard to act like her child self- both because there was a sad, pathetic part of her that called to it, and because she hated that version of herself. Helplessness was nothing but shit, and there wasn’t a single positive thing about it.

  _Ah._ Masako realized, waking up her laptop. That’s what her mother made her feel like- helpless.

 Professor Kukui was quite the character- Masa would’ve been surprised such a man had relations with Gorou had she not immediately sensed a certain darkness in him that was similar to their business. What had he seen, what crawled beneath the surface? She was curious from the first moment their eyes met, but he clearly had the power as her employer despite his friendliness and she wasn’t about to forget that, curiosity or no.

 Try as her mother’s ways might tend to, Masa was going to keep hold of her life and living as a jack- there was no question.

 “Hello.” She greeted him quaintly, home alone with no one but the meowth.

 The man had a presence certainly- an air of personal power that lessened none as he released a puppy like pokemon that she had discovered as rockruff through her studies since they arrived jumped on him, licking his face while he talked. He scolded the little guy and the puppylike pokemon jumped down.

 “Anyways, cousin! I can’t wait to meet you. I’ve heard quite a bit from your mother.”

Code for Gorou?

 “Good things, I hope.” She laughed politely, fingers drumming. Honestly she wasn’t all to sure as to why he was contacting her- the paperwork was nothing that couldn’t be done in person. Was he testing the service he was buying?

“Of course, of course, cousin!” She found his demeanor extremely off putting- a blinding sun of friendliness. “I hope Alola treated you well on your visit! I apologize for not seeing you yet, but I’ll meet you personally before too long, rest assured.”

 They’d discuss work in person then- much less worry over electronic security.

 Masa smiled. “Yes, _please_ \- I’m kind of over the whole moving thing now.”

 He laughed. “If you’re pretty free, then I’ll try and tie things up soon and come over at the first moment avaliable. The whole island is extremely excited to meet you- it's not everyday we get new neighbors.”

 He shuffled around and apparently sent her some files- she got a little pidgey mail notification from him.

 “Fill out this information and I’ll get started on your trainer forms-”

 A loud smashing sound crackled through the speakers.

 “I gotta go but I’ll see ya soon cousin!”

 Before she could protest, the call was ended and she was to finish the paperwork- it could be considered a very lofty order, but an order nonetheless.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was a month before Kukui finally made good on his visit- and he let himself in, only a day after they moved into in Alola. 

Masa had started to talk with a few of their neighbors but she had yet to get used to their extremely familiar ways when around others. Her mother didn’t seem to mind, however. Honestly, it seemed she didn’t mind anything at all.

 “Hey there, Moon! The name’s Kukui, good to meet ya cousin! Are you guys doing alright with the jet lag? Kanto is pretty far from here, after all.”

Before Masa noticed, her mother was already at her side, sunny as the Alolan noon. “Ah, Professor Kukui! Yes, we just got here yesterday but it seems like we’ve been alright so far.”

 Kukui grinned- was anyone in the region straight faced or sombre? Ever?- and nodded. “Hey there, mom!” She couldn’t make out what kind of guy Kukui was. He wasn’t much younger than her mother, but called her ‘mom’? That had to be strange, right? “I just let myself in. Oh- and call me just Kukui, would you? Welcome to Alola!”

 Apparently Kukui had been a trainer himself once and tried the Kanto League, before the Kanjoh war. And apparently her mother had seen him battling around then, as well.

 Masa was impressed with the man’s fame as a battler, but she was also disturbed by what felt like a chemistry between her mother and the man. She wasn’t exactly sure why, but it made her skin crawl. Thoroughly.

 “Hey now, Moon!” The name sounded alien and far too strange to be hearing again, but she came to attention. “Let’s get a move on to the next town over, cousin! Time for you to meet the Island Kahuna, and get yourself a pokemon!”

 Everything was moving too fast, and it was altogether just odd. Who would just give a new kid a pokemon on the first day of meeting them?

 It had to be the pokemon Gorou had been talking about- otherwise that sort of opportunity wouldn’t exist.

 “Kahuna?” She had never heard of such a title, despite all her studying and preparations for the mission.

 “Yeah! The kahunas here are crazy strong pokemon trainers here in Alola, cousin! Although, us common folk aren’t able to beat them. And the kahuna who lives in Iki Town is always happy to give a pokemon to any kid who wants one!”

 Where was the catch, and how were these so famous kahunas hidden from the world, if they were so strong?

 “They’ll simply give my girl a pokemon? They must be worth meeting then! Go out and meet them, Moonie!”

 It was almost dreamlike to hear herself being called ‘my girl’ again. Dreamlike in the way it was absolutely peculiar to hear the same words spoken by her mother that Gorou used so often on missions, to protect her name and present her affiliation with him. The way it was used to own her now was a bit... different.

 It was like the world was pushing her out the door- as though this was what she was supposed to do. Masa had never believed in fate or destiny, but everything was going according to plan- _too_ smoothly for comfort. Was it really because of Gorou’s influence?

 Masa shook her head and grabbed her stuff quickly- it gave her an uneasy feeling to leave the two alone in the living room. Not to mention she was pretty excited to meet one of those amazing ‘kahuna’ people. However, no one just gave away a pokemon so easily, so she was pretty certain she wouldn’t be getting one like that.

 It was a strangely real reminder to be getting Gorou’s I O U months later, however.

 

* * *

 

 

On their way out, Masa couldn’t help but wonder if the man was merely nice, or certifiably insane- he genuinely complimented her strange pineapple hat.

 When they were some distance away from the house, Kukui started speaking, but it wasn’t about the mission.

Wasn’t that of utmost importance?

 “Kukui- er, Professor?”

 “Yeah, Moon?”

 The name still drew goosebumps on her flesh.

 “What about my mission?”

 “Mission?” He cocked his head, mystified.

  _Oh, fuck me._ Gorou had never said that his connection was Kukui- she had assumed.

 Assumed.

  _Fuck._ _Fricker-fucking-arceus-shit._ “Ah-h, um. Sorry. Still addled from jet lag, haha. Pokemon, I meant. Isn’t it sort of… I dunno, irresponsible to just give people pokemon?”

 He retained his genuine smile as though nothing was out of the ordinary. “You can go anywhere so long as you got pokemon with you. That’s why we gotta get you to the kahuna, cousin!”

 Masa followed him to the nearby Iki Town, caught up in an uncomfortable sea of amiable questions and small talk. They talked some about the man’s interest in pokemon moves and people naturally walked in and out of their steady conversation like the ebbing and flowing of water. He was a ridiculously natural person- a person who’s life was dependent on acting could easily discover that.

 Honestly, she was envious of the way so many just… _called_ to him and there was no acting, no falsifications, just honesty and smiles. A life she was barred from ever obtaining.

 “Here we are!” He suddenly shouted, gesturing toward the small settlement around them. “Y’know, Iki Town is where folks come to worship the guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Koko. Maybe you’ll be able to meet it!”

 They stood for a while, the man strangely quiet and unproductive. “Uh… we were supposed to meet everybody right here, yeah… Oh! They’re probably over at Mahalo Trail. That’s the ruins where Tapu Koko lives. Why don’t you go ahead and explore over there and try and find the Island Kahuna? He looks exactly like you’d expect!”

 Masa had no idea what to begin imagining the Island Kahuna was like, but the ruins didn’t give her a whole lot of time to think about the matter.

 Being a Jack, the word _shady_ was basically her entire job description, so she reckoned she understood the concept fairly well. A figure was messing with a duffle bag a little ahead of her- if that wasn’t shady, she wasn’t sure what was. A bomber? Dead body? Illegally obtained money? Her nose caught a scent and she was going to follow it- perhaps it’d have something pertaining to her job.

 Masa found herself not so far off- a strange pokemon popped out of the bag. Pokemon abduction? It had an intense atmosphere around it despite being small and cute, as though something more sinister was lurking inside of it, like fear some powers or abilities.

 Moments later it was attacked by mere spearow and the thief pitifully watched it.

 Had she only imagined that immense power?

 And what low life sort of grunt would fear _spearow?_ The threat of a cocked barrel was far more terrifying.

 The crook turned out to be a girl of her own age, dressed like a child’s porcelain doll. All white with the largest hat she had ever seen- the girl looked completely out of place in Alola. Out of place anywhere, really. The girl shook as she begged Masa to save ‘Nebby’.

 However, Masa was already at it. Having people owe her favors was the ideal relationship and it was good groundwork to have people think she was a protagonistic goody two shoes was helpful if her actions started to seem suspicious.

 The pokemon looked just as strange as the girl, as though it belonged to the constellations, and to the colors of sunset and sunrise.

 Thanks to her job, the spearow were hardly scary. She covered the Nebby creature with her body and waited for the talons- shallow lacerations wouldn’t last long, although they’d momentarily hurt like a bitch, she was sure.

 

Without warning or notice they were in the air, and when the Jack opened her eyes, another equally strange creature was setting them on the ground.

 It was humanoid, black and orange and held an incredible pressure. They made eye contact and she could’ve sworn it nodded to her before it let loose pure electricity and jet away in its burst like a reverse shooting star.

 “Oh… Oh thank arceus!” The girl sighed. “You tried using your power again, didn’t you? You know what happened last time. You couldn’t move for ages! I hated seeing you like that…” The girl paused, exchanging a long look with the critter. The former Jack felt intrusive just watching. “Ah, I shouldn’t say something like that. Sorry, Nebby. It was for my sake after all. I couldn’t even do anything for you.”

 What sort of person ignores the attempted savior of their pokemon completely? Masa found it rather strange but decided to continue observing the girl.

 The jack nearly expected the two to embrace meaningfully like it happened in movies but the pokemon kept floating and dropped a item.

 The girl looked at the thing, a stone, before **finally** turning to Masa. “Ah, forgive me. You helped us out of a really tight spot.” Her voice was a strange bit out of tune with her emotion, a bit too flat, monotone. The emotion was present in her body and her eyes, but her words were dissonant, like cold steel.

She enclosed the stone into Masa’s hands, making very direct eye contact. “Could you not tell anyone about this… About Nebby?”

 “Of course.” Masa said, pocketing the item. “Consider it forgotten.”

 The girl shuffled a bit, flustered. “I’m worried we might get attacked going back by a wild pokemon or something… I know it's a lot but would you mind walking us to town?”

 Masa didn’t feel like bringing up the point that she herself had no pokemon- if she had to sacrifice some of her body to lay ground work, it was worth it.

 Not to mention that the ground work was practically laying itself out. “Of course not.”

 Kukui waved the two over once they got back to the town. “Aw, it looks like you just missed the Kahuna, Moon. You found my assistant, though!”

 “Oh.” The girl murmured. “Um, yes. You can call me Lillie.”

“Moon.” Masa said, shaking hands with the girl.

 Kukui was grinning madly, although it seemed rather normal for him. “Lillie, Moon here just moved in all the way from Kanto!”

 Lillie blinked and it seemed some realization dawned in her blank facial features. “So you’re an acquaintance of the professor? It’s, uh… nice to meet you.” Although the girl spoke little and seemed nearly more enigmatic than the identity of her employer, Lillie appeared genuinely happy, if not the littlest bit.

 Masa was still rather upset about mistaking Kukui for her employer, but her initiation into the mission seemed to be progressing smoothly somehow. The ground work was going well and now she needed more information. However, before Masa began gathering data, noise erupted at the town gate. “The kahuna has returned! Kahuna Hala is back!”

It was a rather dramatic entrance considering the kahuna lived on the island so the jack had been expecting someone rather grandiose, or someone with a distinct air of power in their presence, a person of commanding aura.

 Instead, a man in a bright yellow Alolan shirt and capris came forward. An elderly man of strong body and mind, and undoubtedly casual. Nothing about him suggested anything other than an average Alolan citizen. “What have I missed?”

 “Not much!” Kukui chuckled, unaware of the Nebby incident. “Where’d you go off too? I thought we were meeting here.”

 The kahuna shook his head. “I am the kahuna of the island, of course. Whenever there is a problem, I must solve it. Unlike a certain airhead.” Kukui was either not offended or non understanding of Hala’s comment. “Sorry, Lillie. What were you saying earlier today? For whatever reason I thought Tapu Koko had been about.”

 Lillie nodded, and didn’t quite meet any pair of eyes around her. “Actually… Professor, Hala, um… Nebby was attacked by some spearow when Moon helped Nebby escape. But… the bridge collapsed as I thought they were going to fall. Tapu Koko saved them!”

 Kukui laughed, as though Lillie told a huge joke. “Ha, you don’t hear that every day!”

 Masa felt intrusive as Hala smiled, warmth aplenty toward Lillie and the professor. “Ho! Although the island deity is said to protected us, Tapu Koko is rather fickle. Yet he moved to save you…” A nearly sly look entered his aging facial features. “Kukui, my boy, I believe we have cause to celebrate! It seems I should trust Moon here with a pokemon. We’ll make a fine trainer out of her!”

 The man took Masa’s hands in his withered own before she knew it, grinning something similar to the professor’s. “I’m glad to meet you, child. I am Hala, kahuna of Melemele Island. Welcome to Alola! Young Kukui told me of your coming.” Masa was curious of the man’s age, to be calling Kukui ‘young.’ While the professor wasn’t exceeding old or or even quite middle age, he wasn’t a spring chicken either. “I am glad to have met you today. You seem rather worthy, so…” Without a moment’s pause, he released three pokemon. “Choose one of my own pokemon!”

 A cute pokemon that held whispers of the sea, youth delighting its eyes with a happiness only available to the young and unlearned of the world. A small, cool looking feline with a fiery look, daring Masa to chose it. A creature to be tamed, likely. Then lastly, a odd looking bird with large blank eyes and little on the mind, seemingly.

 Masa was happy to see Kukui’s IOU coming to fruition- however, now supposedly graduated and finally getting her partner in crime, she wasn’t sure how to chose. The litten was the most suited to her job… but the whole thing was just ludicrous, wasn't it?

 Masa prepared her words and gave her answer to Hala, wondering just how Hala was connected to her teacher.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All chapter titles will be fairly fitting songs and I definitely recommend a listen if you're curious! (I've spent way too much time on this alone lol) and I'd love to hear songs you think might fit or are reminded of! Share them with your thoughts below if you're up to it!
> 
> Next time, we'll see what, or rather who, becomes Masako's first pokemon and most importantly, her right hand buddy in crime.


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